I was invited by Esh to try Alfie Birds in The Custard Factory, Digbeth - it has recently had a new chef take over and they wanted someone to go and review the food and luckily that person was me! Its a cool, funky place with a good atmosphere, they have live music on the evenings and it definitely has a student vibe to it. I had looked the menu up online before I went and was excited by all the different burgers - as burgers are my favourite!
On arrival, it wasn't too busy - steadyish. I walked over to the bar where two young men were stood, they did seem a little distracted, I said a table was booked under my name for two people at 7.30pm, they showed me to the table where there was a sign saying 'I'm reserved' but the time said 6pm, which I thought was a little odd as we booked it for 7.30.
They handed us two menus and left us to have a look. They have quite a varied choice and lots of cocktails, which always make me happy!
Planters Punch - Captain's Morgans, Pineapple & Orange
£4.50
This was very cheap for a cocktail, which is good, I could drink lots for that price! However, I ordered all the food and drinks at the bar at the drinks took ages to come - the starter arrived before the drinks did, which was disappointing, you want your drink before your food.
The two servers on this particular night were nice lads but they seemed a little in their own world and the service was very average and pretty slow.
I was still excited to try the food as the menu was certainly different and the offer burger flavours that I haven't seen anywhere else! However, as I'm trying to eat healthy, I ordered the Duck & Hoi Sin Salad, to be told they had run out of this - which I felt wasn't very good, I then ordered the Salmon - which they had also run out of. Therefore, I had to go for a burger, which was ok but I felt it wasn't a great impression that they had run out of two things on the menu!
We decided to share a starter as we were starving!
Wings - BBQ
£4.50
The food is served very simply, on a plain white bowl but I quite liked this - simple but effective. And, wow, these wings were delicious! They were tender, fell off the bone and incredibly tasty, they had a lime tang to them too, which was a nice twist and they were covered in sauce, which makes my sauce addiction happy - I was very impressed with these and for £4.50, it was a very reasonable sized portion. We both loved them!
Tom went for the Pizza Burger - Beef smothered in cheese and wrapped in pizza dough, topped with tomato, cheese, pepperoni and baked in the oven
£9.50
He asked for this with sweet potato fries instead of normal fries as we both have an unhealthy obsession with sweet potato. This looked very interested, I was certainly intrigued and for £9.50 the portion was huge! He seemed to really enjoy it, well what lad wouldn't?! A pizza and a burger rolled into one - thats like heaven on a plate! I did try a sneaky bite and it was very good, it tasted like a meat feast pizza almost - a very unusual meal but it worked.
I went for a simple option, Alfies Number 2 - Cheese & Bacon Burger
£8.00
£8.00 is a bargain, as the portion was huge! However, I asked for it with sweet potato fries instead of fries too but they bought me over normal fries, with a side order of sweet potato fries, which was carb overload! It was fine, as Tom ate the extras but I felt this wasn't too good of them and it was a silly mistake.
However, my burger was very good, it was full of flavour and the bun was packed with salad, mayo and meat - I really enjoyed it. The fries had the skin on and they were nice, a little soggy for me, as were the sweet potato ones - not what I expected. But it was an enjoyable meal.
A good experience at Aflie Birds, the service needs improving in my eyes, the food was good, but I think they need to make a few simple changes and it would be very good as the venue is perfect and it has a very good atmosphere, I can imagine on the evening when the live music is playing, its the place to be!
*Thanks to Esh & Alfie Birds for paying for this meal - all opinions are my own as always.
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